Friends Forever
by HoodedSpellcaster
Summary: They were the best friends for life. / Chardora friendship


Finals Round 1 – Dialogue Implants

CHASER 3: "The next time I tell you it's a bad idea, how about you try actually _listening_?"

Prompts: 1. (colour) salmon / 2. (song) Pokemon theme song / 5. (word) tear

A/N: A friendship fic for a change because I really ship Charlie and Tonks as friends and I wanted to write a fic about them and now I got a chance. I was actually really unsure about this but I think it came out quite well. Oh, and the other song is 'Graduation' by Vitamin C. I really like that song.

* * *

_Every challenge along the way_

_With courage I will face._

_I will battle every day_

_To claim my rightful place._

_Come with me,_

_The time is right,_

_There's no better team._

_Arm in arm we'll win the fight!_

_It's always been our dream!_

* * *

"Hey, Charlie?"

The pub was filled with dim light and Charlie raised his eyes from his half-empty pint. Slightly flushed Gavril, a man on his early twenties, sat next to Charlie on a rickety bar stool, his dark eyes heavily lidded and tired. They had been colleagues for almost three years and if something the young Romanian was nosy when he was drunk. Gavril wasn't really a bother; he was good with dragons and nice enough to get along at work. And sometimes he was a good company to have a drink or two with.

Charlie gave a smile. "Yeah?"

"Was there ever a special girl in your life?"

Gavril's question was simple and his voice wasn't slurred, as if he wasn't drunk at all. Charlie was silent for a while, pondering how to answer. He had a long ago accepted the fact there would never be a special woman in his life. Not in a sense his colleague meant, anyway. Of course there had been several remarkable women during the years. Like his mother and sister and Professor McGonagall.

Charlie emptied the pint with a grimace. Oh, how he missed English beer. Gavril looked at him expectantly and Charlie knew he had to tell him something.

"Well… There was this one girl…"

* * *

_And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives_

_Where we're gonna be when we turn 25_

_I keep thinking times will never change_

_Keep on thinking things will always be the same_

* * *

If I had learned something here at Hogwarts it's never try to get in the Hufflepuff common room if you don't know how to do it. You'll end up reeking like vinegar for days. It is better ask someone who knows how to get in to reveal the passage way for you instead of trying it yourself. The Hufflepuffs actually let you in quite easily if you know the right people and–

"Yeah, wait a sec. Tonks! Your boyfriend is here!"

–Yeah, about that. I think I knew just the right person for getting in.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

I grinned when the infuriated yell echoed from where I thought – just thought because I couldn't know it for sure anyway – the girls' dorms would be. I hummed, shifting my weight from one foot to another. A wild guess what colour her hair would be this time. I'd say... blue. But it has been blue for a while. Could be orange, though, I wouldn't be surprised.

It didn't take long before the girl in question had crawled through the passageway and was standing at the barrel door, her arms crossed. Her hair caught my attention. Or actually it would have caught anyone's attention but it was just something you never got used to. I had known her for the best part of these four years and it still sometimes shocks me. Perks of being friends with a metamorphmagus, I guess.

But anyway, it was salmon. Her hair, I mean. It was salmon coloured. Like the fish. I hadn't seen that one coming. It must have been because of the dinner. Her hair stuck up in ridiculous spikes and her shirt was messily stuffed inside her skirt as if she had just dressed up in a hurry. Her tie hung loosely around her neck; she hadn't even bothered to put it under her collar. She tapped the floor with her foot, shaking her head and waiting for an explanation for my appearance.

"Charlie Weasley." Her voice was firm but there was hint of something I could have called amusement. Or initial shock. "What have you done to look like that this time?"

Nymphadora Tonks – geez she would annihilate me if she knew I just called her Nymphadora (believe me, I've seen her do just that) – asked when she saw my face. Her look told me I looked worse than I had expected. But I couldn't look _that_ bad. Or could I? I hadn't actually seen myself yet so point taken. Would explain though why I had been stared at.

"Nothing really", I said. "I promise."

Tonks glared at me, her lips forming a thin line. But it didn't take long for her to give in. It never took. She ran her hand through her hair, giving a frustrated groan.

"Fine. Come in. Sit where you want." She rolled her eyes. "I'll go get something for your battle scars."

Sassy little shit. She's clumsier than anyone and yet she says things like that. If there's nothing to trip over her feet will do the deed and she'll end up with bruises and a bleeding nose. That's why I can come to her looking beaten up, which I don't admit I looked like, and she takes me in.

Reluctantly, but yeah. I sat on the worn out leather sofa, my regular spot.

Tonks mumbled something incoherent under her breath when she came back with the overly familiar muggle first aid kit. The kit made a small click when she opened it. She unscrewed the small bottle. The smell made me grimace. I still hadn't gotten used to it. Tonks smirked at my face and poured some liquid to the cotton pad. "Take it like a man", she said and started to press my swollen, and most likely wounded or else it wouldn't have stung, lip with the pad. I flinched.

"That hurt", I murmured with my limited lip movement.

"Can't hurt more than getting these." I shrugged at that and she moved the pad, making me flinch again. "What did you do this time?" she asked.

"Why do think it was my fault?"

"I never said that."

"You made it sound like that."

"What did you do?" she asked again.

"I may have said something to Slytherin Quidditch team. About how I knew they had cheated against the Ravenclaws", I told her. "And yes, it may have been a bad idea just like you said."

She slammed her hand on my knee. "I knew it!" she exclaimed and I grimaced because of the sudden pain. She really didn't know her strength. Tonks sighed, shaking her head and taking more pads from the kit. "But really. The next time I tell you it's a bad idea, how about you try actually _listening_?"

I shrugged, not saying anything. At the times like these I had to admit that I kind of liked her. In a completely brotherly way, of course. She was like the sister I didn't have, acting like she was my mother. And when she didn't act like a cranky, old fire breathing dragon she was actually quite... I don't know. I liked the soft, caring side of her. Tonks poked my cheek.

"Hey! Don't smile while I'm trying to help you, you walking disaster." My smile just widened when she puffed her cheeks in the most not intimidating way imaginable. "Stop grinning or I'll give you a reason to shed a tear or two, Weasley", she sneered.

I forced myself to look somewhere else, still smiling. But then again, she quite effectively reminded me of her temper. Perhaps a dragon would have indeed been easier to handle than her, after all. She dropped few drops of the liquid on another pad and started to press it on my eye corner. We didn't speak but I was grateful she was there. I wouldn't even dream of letting her go.

Tonks slapped my arm after couple minutes, startling me once again. "You're good to go", she said, closing the kit. I rubbed my arm, grinning. I would get more bruises from her than from the whole Slytherin Quidditch team. Not that I would say that to her.

"Hey, Tonks?" I said.

She raised a brow quizzically. "Hmm?"

"I'm so glad we're friends."

Tonks cracked a grin. "Going soft, are you?" she laughed and tossed her arm around my shoulders. "Friends forever, right, Weasley? Next time I'll make sure you won't get beaten up!"

* * *

Charlie sighed and beckoned the bartender to bring him another drink. The old ventilator droned on the background, mixing with the other familiar noises of the bar. Charlie thanked the bartender who placed Charlie's third pint on the table.

"We didn't really have time for our friendship after we graduated", Charlie said slowly, trying to keep his voice from slurring. Gavril leaned over the bar table and listened to his older colleague carefully. Charlie gazed at the liquid in the pint. He really didn't like the Romanian beer.

"I went to study dragons", he continued. "She got into the Auror training. We just didn't keep in touch so much. We saw shortly only once after that when I visited my old school because of the work. Just said hi at the Ministry. She hadn't changed a bit." He laughed and emptied the pint with one sip. "Same old Tonks."

"But it's never too late", Gavril helpfully offered. "Take a week off and go see her."

Charlie's drunken laughter stopped. Instead he gave a sad smile and hummed quietly in agreement. "I guess I should", he said and drank his beer.

After all, he hadn't visited Tonks' grave for a long time.

* * *

_As we go on_

_We remember_

_All the times we_

_Had together_

_And as our lives change_

_Come whatever_

_We will still be_

_Friends Forever_


End file.
